נדה – Niddah
Niddah 2a ~ The Ethnography of Menstruation Taboos
When it comes to menstruation, Judaism shares much with other faiths and cultures.
Niddah 8b ~ A Baby Born After Eight Months
The rabbis thought a baby born after only eight months gestation could not survive. They weren’t alone.
Niddah 9a ~ Fear, Mood, and Menstruation
How incarceration changes the menstrual cycle. Unless you are Queen Esther.
Niddah 13 ~ Onanism, Self-Pollution and Potential People
The Talmud viewed sperm as potential people. It’s a viewpoint very removed from our own.
Niddah 17a ~ Overnight Eggs and the Danger of Breast Cancer
How a talmudic fear became a carcinogenic concern. And why it doesn’t matter.
Niddah 17b ~The Chatam Sofer, Rationalism, and Anatomy That Isn't There
The rabbis found an extra bit of female anatomy, but the Chatam Sofer wasn’t buying it.
Niddah 18a ~ Talmudic Probability Theory
If you follow the majority, treif meat can take on the property of being kosher.
Niddah 19a ~ The Many Colors and Properties of Blood
The difference between arterial, venous and sacred blood.
Niddah 20a ~ Rabbis, Pheromones and the Scientific Method
Do we communicate with pheromones? Two rabbis seemed to think so.
Niddah 23b ~ Mourning for a Lost Fetus
The Talmud and the emotional toll of a miscarriage on both patents.
Niddah 24a ~ Halachic Reality and Anatomic Reality: Treif People and Treif Animals
The rabbis thought certain problems are fatal. They aren’t.
Niddah 25b ~ Four Cases of Torture & Coerced Testimony
When necessary, some rabbis extracted a confession by torture.
Why a talmudic story might be plausible after all. And a Guiness world record is broken.
Niddah 28a ~ Gender Determination
It was very important to have a son. Here is how to make sure that happened.
Niddah 30b ~ Talmudic Embryology
Talmudic embryology reflected the prevailing Greek theories of the time.
Niddah 31a ~ When is a Woman Most Fertile?
It is not always when she return from the mikveh.
Niddah 30-31 ~ Talmudic Obstetrics
Does a male baby grow faster than a girl in utero, and do they cause more labor pains?
Niddah 32a ~ Neonatal Menstruation
The rabbis discussed it because it really does happen.
Niddah 35b ~ The Zov, and Gonorrhea
The Torah was very concerned with a sexualy transmitted infection called gonorrhea.
It killed Rav Assi, but Rava was correct: a fever is actually good for you.
Niddah 38a ~ How Long Does A Pregnancy Last?
Not exactly nine months, but closer to Shmuel’s length of 270 days. Plus or minus five weeks.
Niddah 41a ~ Surviving a Cesarean Section
Against all the odds, the Talmud records that both mother and baby could survive.
Niddah 45a ~ The Youngest Mother in the World
A Roman aristocrat claimed she had given birth aged only seven. It could have happened.
Niddah 47a ~ Measuring Puberty in Girls, Boys, and the Underprivileged
The rabbis had a scale to measure puberty that predated our modern ones.
Niddah 48a - The Effect of the Environment on Puberty
Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel suggests that the environment can influence the onset of puberty. He was right.
Niddah 55b ~ The Nasolacrimal Duct
The Talmud hints at a little known but very useful organ.
“There is no bed without the blood of a louse.” Plagues of bed bugs, talmudic and modern.
Niddah 61b ~ Saliva as a Detergent
Why laundry detergent is a mini-digestive system, and a prize-winning paper on human saliva.
Niddah 73 ~ The Final Page of Talmud: The Main Dish and the Appetizers
A meta discussion on science and its explanatory power.